Henry W. Coe State Park (California) 20-Apr-2017

After saying good-bye to Ken and Julie, we stayed one more night in Calistoga and then spent the next day driving further south to Gilroy, California, visiting bookstores along the way. From Gilroy (“The Garlic Capital of the World”), we would explore – for the fourth hike in our week of wandering the Golden State – the southwest side of Henry W. Coe State Park. At 87,000 acres (35,000 hectares), Coe is the largest state park in northern California and the second-largest in the state after Anza-Borrego Desert State Park east of San Diego. Yet, despite all the years we lived and hiked in California, including time spent in San Francisco, we never once visted Coe. So sad.

Our plan was to park at the park’s Coyote Creek Entrance, hike up Grizzly Gulch, then over Willson Peak (Wilson Peak on the USGS map), then return via Steer Ridge Road and the Spike Jones Trail. When we got to Coyote Creek, there were other cars parked there, so we parked too and went on up the trail. There were no signs at Coyote Creek about parking or fees. Only after the hike did we discover, to our chagrin, that there’s: (a) no parking at Coyote Creek (your supposed to park at the Hunting Hollow Entrance and walk two miles up the road to Coyote Creek) and (b) a $6 day use fee for Hunting Hollow. OK, our bad for skipping an a priori read of the park’s website. But, by not knowing we were breaking some rules, we were able to start up the road toward Grizzly Gulch unburdened by guilt (actually this ignorance enabled us to do the whole hike guilt-free).

Starting up the road from Coyote Creek

The road soon gives way to the Grizzly Gulch Trail and we followed that trail as it started climbing up the canyon. By now it was obvious we were going to have a full bluebird hiking day, with sunny skies, picturesque clouds, cooling breezes, and NO RAIN.

Starting up the Grizzly Peak Trail

The wet winter that California had suffered through had nonetheless done wonders for the plant life – grasses and shrubs and wildflowers were bursting out all over. So was the poison oak, so we stayed on the trail. If there’s an optimal time to visit this park, it’s on a nice Spring day after a wet winter!

The trail was a narrow strip through a sea of grass

All the hillsides were covered with a soft, green blanket of fresh grasses and wildflowers.

The butterflies were numerous and not their usual skittish selves, so they actually seemed to be posing,

Mountain dandelion with checkerspot butterfly

or staring back at you.

What!?!?

After climbing up to about 1,800 feet, the Grizzly Gulch Trail starts contouring, which made for easy hiking through a beautiful green landscape.

Along the Grizzly Gulch Trail

We crossed a small intermittent creek which, again thanks to the wet winter, actually looked and sounded like a real creek. Too bad it won’t last into summer.

An intermittent creek along the Grizzly Gulch Trail

We continued along the almost level trail,

Along the Grizzly Gulch Trail

past a former stock pond now hosting redwinged blackbirds and frogs,

A former stock pond along the Grizzly Gulch Trail

through some of the great old oaks shading the trail,

An old oak over the Grizzly Gulch Trail

and across Grizzly Creek,

The Grizzly Gulch Trail crosses upper Grizzly Creek

to a junction with the Willson Peak Trail. Here we turned on to the Willson, which didn’t waste any time gaining altitude, thus putting some strain on legs that had been lulled by the easy contouring along the Grizzly Peak Trail. The LovedOne, being younger and spryer, took off up the hill, leaving me to lumber on up as best I could.

The LovedOne surges up the Willson Peak Trail

Fortunately for my dignity, the steep part didn’t last and the trail eased off into a somewhat more pleasant uphill stroll through oaks,

Along the Willson Peak Trail

past meadows bright with wildflowers,

Flowery meadows along the Willson Peak Trail

and on to the summit ridge, with its expansive view to the south (actually in all directions).

The view south from near the summit of Willson Peak

The actual high point was about 100 yards to the west,

Looking across the poppies to the summit of Willson Peak

so we made our way over there to officially claim the summit – all 2,651 awesome feet of it.

The USGS benchmark atop Willson Peak

After a snack near the summit, we started our loop back by going west on Steer Ridge Road,

Starting our return along Steer Ridge Road

past yet more magnificent oak trees,

An oak along Steer Ridge Road

and then further along, with views, to a junction with the Spike Jones Trail.

The view from Steer Ridge Road

Then it was down the Spike Jones Trail,

Along the Spike Jones Trail

past yet more great oaks,

An oak along the Spike Jones Trail

to a junction with the road leading out to the Coyote Creek Entrance. A wonderful loop (8.3 miles total; 2,400 feet of elevation gain) in great weather and at the lushest time of the year. We’re not sure how hiking (or life) gets any better than this. Now we’re really sorry we passed this park by all these years. But, if we’re ever fortunate enough to make it back to Coe, we promise to read and follow all the rules (signs or no). Promise.

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2 comments

I’m thinking the violet flowers are Brodiaea (Brodiaea elegans) and the yellow flowers are mountain dandelion (Agoseris heterophllya). The butterfly is a checkerspot. We’ve been seeing lots of checkerspots around here this spring.